


Watch Over You

by inmylife



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Families of Choice, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 21:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17087996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmylife/pseuds/inmylife
Summary: A look at Minhyun and Jinyoung's relationship, in eleven parts.





	Watch Over You

**Author's Note:**

> or, my favorite friendship in wanna one gets a fic to itself.

**one.**

looking at the shy boy who can barely meet boa's eyes is like looking back in time. minhyun wants to tell him it'll be alright, but he doesn't know himself.

 

**two.**

they meet in c class. bae jinyoung cries in the bathroom stalls when he thinks the other trainees can't hear him, but everyone else is doing it too, so it's okay. minhyun would spare him a smile - the  _old_ minhyun would - but he's drowning as it is in shame and guilt and desperation for himself and the four people he would give the world to. so he doesn't. 

they both drop in rank. minhyun wonders what a cautious smile could have done.

 

**three.**

"you've changed from the first day of filming," minhyun tells him, an hour after jinyoung is voted as center. "we haven't talked too much, but i'm really proud of you. you'll do well." 

the way his face lights up makes something in minhyun stir. 

"thank you, hyung. that means a lot to me."

 

**four.**

minhyun is so, so proud of this boy. tenth place. a debut ranking. and then his name is called too, and a surge of relief blows through him, because they did it. 

"i'm happy to debut with you," jinyoung whispers. 

"same to you. i said this down below, jinyoung, but congratulations again." 

and now he waits. 

 

**five.**

he and sungwoon sit up together lots of nights, talking about their members or their history or just old mucore gossip from before the other kids were even trainees. it's been almost a month since that awful night when their names were called and minhyun had everything ripped out from under him only to check the music charts and feel just a bit better, if not okay; they've done this a lot. they weren't close before, but minhyun thinks they will be now. in a rare still and silent moment, the door to one of the other bedrooms creaks open upstairs and they both freeze. 

"hyung, i can't sleep." 

jinyoung wrings his hands together and curls a little into himself when he sees sungwoon but holds his ground.

"come here, jinyoung-ah," minhyun encourages him, and the younger doesn't need any more prodding than that to hide in minhyun's arms. "wanna talk about it?"

"no," he whispers. so minhyun rubs his back and sings his old b-sides until he falls asleep.

 

**six.**

he doesn't show this side of himself to anyone, really, at least not in the light of day, but when nu'est w take their first win on a music show minhyun crumples to the floor of the practice room. they have a comeback to prepare for, but they were told to take five minutes, and, well - today was the big day, so yeyoung-ssaem lent him her phone to watch the results. she knows. they all do, even though some are kinder about it than others. 

he's surrounded in an instant by seongwoo, daniel, and jaehwan cheering, sungwoon biting his lip and staring at the floor, and daehwi, woojin, and guanlin shaking him and begging to know if he's okay. he shakes them off and shoves yeyoung-ssaem's phone into jisung's hands and shuts the door to the practice room and slides down against the wall to sit with his knees hugged up to his chest. 

he barely registers the door open. 

"tell me what you need," murmurs jinyoung. he's carrying a bottle of water. 

minhyun tries to form words, but  _let me hold you_ and  _go away_ and  _distract me_ fight so hard for dominance in his mind that he ends up not saying anything but "stay." 

and so they sit together. there, in the quiet, with jinyoung's head leaning onto minhyun's shoulder, focusing only on the sounds of breath in and out and the feeling of cloth against skin.

 

**seven.**

they're good at acting lively. 

they act that way all the time, really, because they never know when there's a stray camera. minhyun knows that lesson too well. cameras are everywhere. so that's what he does. every day. he can only show how exhausted he is when he's in the shower. one time he fell asleep in there. jihoon falls asleep in the shower regularly. it's how they operate - how they function. 

so when jinyoung comes home from school so exhausted he can't even bother to stand up, alarm bells go off in minhyun's head. 

he turns off his own mic, then jinyoung's. "what happened," he whispers anxiously as he walks jinyoung back to his zero base room. 

"had to be loud for the gopro," jinyoung answers. "sookyung asked me if i'd gotten a personality transplant. i hope mpd edits that out." 

the kids don't usually film at school - it's usually a time where they can be themselves. and now even that safe place is being taken away.

they sleep together that night, in minhyun's room because, seriously, a ball pit? how is anyone supposed to get any sleep in there, each other's body heat acting as a comfort, and the contact reminding each other that someday, it'll be okay to just be. 

 

**eight.**

"i can't believe i got those lines!"

jinyoung is giddy. minhyun is too, in a way. secondhand. 

"you're showing off your vocals, my jinyougie," he grins. "show everyone you're lead vocalist potential." 

"i will!" 

he bounces to himself in happiness the whole rest of the day - even though boomerang is their hardest choreo yet and he's surely tired - and skips down the hallways when they get back into their dorm. 

minhyun smiles to himself. 

(when they watch the music video, minhyun can't resist teasing him. "ahh, my jinyoungie looks so cool!"

jinyoung doesn't even argue.)

 

**nine.**

they go together to the first episode of produce 48 filming, and minhyun can't look kaeun in the eye. he lets kwon eunbi - he remembers her group greeting them years ago, and they were so touched by it because almost no one remembered to stop by their green room - chitchat to him, and makes small talk with the japanese trainees, because he's the best at the language out of the 22 sunbaes there. but no matter what he doesn't let himself look over to her. 

"go say hello, hyung." 

jinyoung gives him a little push.

"she's your friend. i know that. didn't she debut the same year as you?"

"and look where we are now," minhyun says gloomily. "don't ever join pledis, jinyoung. you'll regret it with your life."

"you don't regret it that much," jinyoung smiles cheerily. "come on. it'll help. it'll help  _her_."

and because minhyun knows that, deep down in his heart, he goes. she crushes him in a tight hug, which is odd considering they were never that close. 

"thank you," she whispers. he can hear the pain in her voice. 

"it's not me you should be thanking, noona."

 

**ten.**

"i can't believe this is our last mv together," minhyun sighs. 

"you never know. mnet might have one last trick for us," jisung quips in passing. 

they're filming individual shots on the water set for spring breeze. jinyoung's just finishing up, and as he comes back his shoes are wet. "they said i'm done. for now."

"take off your shoes," fusses minhyun. "and your socks, if you can help it. there's no point promoting with a cold, youngie." 

"ong-hyung will complain if i take off my socks."

"well, seongwoo has no right to. it's his goddamn socks getting stuck in our washing machine."

jinyoung giggles. minhyun admits that to an outsider his... relationship... with cleanliness is kind of funny - he knows this because his members, all fourteen of them, and the seventeen members besides, have made fun of him for it from his trainee days up to now. but seriously, he's so sick of seongwoo's freaking socks. and daniel not checking his pockets and getting earring backs and paper bits into everyone else's clothes. 

"what will i do when i don't have my minhyunnie-hyung to fuss over me," jinyoung elbows him. 

"ahh, i'm sure you'll have a dongsaeng of your own to spoil," minhyun says absently. truthfully, as much as he misses nu'est and how much more  _himself_ he could be there, he'll miss being  _minhyunnie-hyung_. it's a part of him too, now. 

"i like being the spoiled one," jinyoung pouts. 

 

**eleven.**

"i'm scared."

he's on the verge of tears and minhyun is once again thrown back to that day almost two years ago, sitting on that pyramid and watching a painfully young trainee stare at the floor. "oh, baby." 

"eleven days. i don't want -" 

minhyun pulls him close. "i know. i know."

"i'm gonna miss you," jinyoung sobs. he finally lets himself cry and minhyun holds him tighter. "i don't know what i'm gonna do when you aren't there to tell me everything's gonna be okay."

minhyun can't put into words how much he will miss this. he's been aching and aching for nu'est for so long that he almost forgot he was going to miss these days too. he, suddenly, feels a lump in his throat and has to shut his eyes tight. 

"but, baby, i will be there." 

jinyoung inhales shakily. 

"i'll be at your debut showcase cheering you on. i'll meet you backstage at music shows and play with your hair and make sure you're calm and that you know how great you'll be. and who knows? maybe we'll work on a drama together. or have a special stage with you guys. maybe i'll write a song for you with dongho and bumzu-hyung. and i promise you that no matter what i'll always be just a phone call away."

because here's the thing. minhyun knows that some of his fans will hate any mention of wanna one, but he knows that all of the others - so many of them, now - will let him reach out to his members,  _these_ members, the way he wasn't allowed to for nu'est while he's been here. he trusts them. wanna one isn't quite family in the same way that aron, jonghyun, dongho, and minki are, but they've been through things, a different kind of hardship, the darker side of fame. and he won't stay close with all of them. maybe just a few. maybe just one. 

but for that one, he'll always be there. this he vows, as the tears fall down his own face and as he whispers, "it's all gonna be alright."

**Author's Note:**

> this ended so sad im sorry,,,,,, but srsly hwangdeep in a drama I WANT IT baekzu writing songs for post-broduce boys I WANT IT minhyun at c9boys debut showcase I WANT IT
> 
> thanks to kyra (and kira) for putting up with my hwangdeep bullshit
> 
> talk dadhyun and babyjin to me on twt @kangsyejin or tumblr @zhengkis (yes im gonna start using tubmlr again)


End file.
